IBM RS/6000 43P Modle 140: F04

[BryanDavis]

Hey, this is my first post, so lets see how stupid I am. I have just recieved two 43p's at work and have the task of building boxes for support users. The problem is when I turn on one of the boxes all That comes up on the LED is F04. It will just sit there until you turn it off. The box seems to see the tape drive and the CD but the floppy doesn't seem to be running properly (or at all). If you have any helpful suggestions, your help will be greatly appriciated.

Thanks,
Bryan Davis

 

[gheist]

http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/pseries/library/hardware_docs/system2.html

will surely have a "Service guide" for your particular system with explanations of display codes - floppy operation can be verified by booting off the diagnostic CD

2. If the checkpoint F05 or F5B is displayed for an extended time, there may be aproblem with the integrity of the boot image.

 

[samizdat]

Try popping the cover and removing the battery from the main board. Leave it off for a minute or so and put the battery back in. Then fire it up and see what happens.

 

[aixqueen]

F04 is set memory refresh.... perhaps something came loose in shipping?
I would check memory, and boards to see if they are seated...then call IBM hardware if they are new machines or if you have a hardware contract..... Was there an os loaded on them? or is it a start completely from scratch....
As they said above F05 starts to try and find a boot image..

 

[BryanDavis]

Still no go. I have tried looking through the IBM manuals and have found nothing at all about F04. I have tried to take out the battery, letting it sit, and putting it back in. No go. I have tried checking all the connections, and still no go. I have tried talking to IBM about the problem, only to be pointed right back here. If there are any other suggestions, It would be great to hear them. I am unsure where we got the box from and am unsure if it has any OS on it. I do not have the Diagnostic CD, but am looking into getting on from somewhere. Hopefully that will load, but I am not holding onto hope. I thank you for your suggestions, they were all great.

Bryan Davis

 

[gheist]

does your system have any memory? some others bailed out with undescribed messages in such cases ---

 

[samizdat]

Well this gets me to thinking. I had a 43P with this problem. Checking back on my hardware service call history notes, this particular one would not respond after we removed the battery and put it back in which was a known problem with the batch of workstations we had received. The CE ended up replacing the main board and it worked. I do not want to suggest that is the problem you are experiencing, but it worked in my situation. Afterwards, I thought the battery could have gone bad in the old main board, but the fire had been put out so I didn't pursue it any further. Ofcourse, as aixqueen asked; Is an OS actually installed? is a question that will have to be answered. It sounds to me like your hardware is responding at the lowest of levels (blinking lights and such) and the machine is at the point where it is looking for bootstrap code. Good Luck!

 

[avadh]

Hello,
1) If you do not have AIX installed and not able to install AIX then it is hardware problem call 1-800-IBM-serv to have IBM CE come and check hardware.
2) If AIX is installed and you are able to boot up the system and logon then do diag -> advance diag -> problem determination if you get SRN (service request number) then it is time to call IBM hardware.

 

[Yegolev]

I bet you did not receive any RAM. If you did, usually reseating DIMMs fixes it. Make sure it is IBM RAM, not Kingston or anyone else. Otherwise bad sysplanar. Maybe reseat L2 cache.

I have had more than one 43P catch fire after power-up. Seriously. Not always the old 7248, either.

 

[BryanDavis]

Hey guys,
Thank you for all the help. I finally got ahold of the people who sold us the box and he sent out a new one. I did have to replace the motherboard. It was hardware the whole time. Thanks again for the amount of help that you provided.

Bryan Davis